SEAN Davis believes Stuart Holden has done the right thing by keeping his distance on the comeback trail.

The midfielder, released by Wanderers this summer after injury wrecked his three-year stay at the club, claims he advised the US international to complete the majority of his rehabilitation back home in the States after feeling dissatisfied with his own treatment.

Davis played just three-and-a-half games for the Whites before picking up a serious knee injury that kept him out of competitive action for more than two years.

But speaking exclusively to The Bolton News, the 32-year-old reckons Holden has been better served by working in the headquarters of the Elite PT Practice in Wilmington, Delaware.

“I don’t live with regrets, and I don’t regret my time at Bolton – I’m just not that sort of person,” he said. “But the one thing I would have changed is that I would have done my rehab elsewhere. I don’t think the medical team were experienced enough with my injury to have helped me get through it and back to a good condition.

“I eventually saw a doctor called Jay Rodrigo, who was fantastic, and I feel if I’d seen him earlier things might have been different.

“With that in mind, I have managed to help certain players with a bit of advice and I did tell Stuart to go and get his rehab back home. He’s a big part of this team and a fantastic young talent. I really hope he makes a speedy recovery.”

It was Gary Megson’s intention to build a team around Davis when he arrived on a free transfer from Portsmouth but after an encouraging pre-season, he was sent off against Liverpool in only his fourth start.

Soon after that he tore his articular cartilage - and was forced to spent up to eight hours a day strapped to a machine at home in Cheshire to keep the knee joint moving continuously.

He returned briefly in pre-season two years ago and played reserve-team football only to be forced to go under the surgeon’s knife again following more knee damage.

Davis fought back once more and after featuring for the second string went out on loan to Bristol City in February, only to be sent back after three appearances in the Championship with a thigh strain. And it was at that point that he was forced to accept his Bolton career was over.

“Even then I came back and thought I could have contributed something,” the midfielder said. “But when the squad went off to Dubai and I was the only one left behind, you know the writing is on the wall for you and it hurt a bit.

“But that’s life, you can’t force yourself if the manager doesn’t want to pick you. I don’t hold grudges.

“You have to be professional. People like Paul Robinson and Kevin Davies, who found themselves out of the team for a long time, did exactly the same.”

Davis is now in the process of moving back to the south with his family and hopes to resume his career.

But the playmaker – once called up to the England squad by Sven-Goran Eriksson – accepts his knee problem is something that will need to be “managed.”

“I went my whole career at Portsmouth without missing a training session, but now I know I’m living with a knee injury,” he said.

“I need to find a manager who is going to look after me. I can’t train every day and it’s something that has to be monitored but, provided I find someone who understands that, I feel I’ve got something to give.

“I haven’t played for a while and that might help me out but I’m definitely not quitting until someone steps in and tells me to stop.

“As for Bolton, it’s hard when the club gets relegated but if they can get Stuart and Chungy (Chung-Yong Lee) back up and running then I think they have a fighting chance. I certainly wish them well.”